Ryan Murphy Breaks Silence On Incest Backlash Against New Netflix Crime Series

Ryan Murphy has responded to the recent complaints about his latest Netflix series, Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, in relation to its suggestion of an incestuous relationship between its two subjects. Even when a project is based on a true story, creative liberties are bound to be taken. Sometimes, facts are altered because the lines of truth are blurred and unconfirmed, while other times facts are adjusted simply for entertainment value. It’s nearly impossible to get the full truth because the real-life participants have different views of what the truth actually is.

In the case of Netflix’s Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, it appears creative liberties have been taken a step too far, according to some people. Across its nine episodes, it’s heavily suggested that the brothers Lyle and Erik Menendez had a relationship that bordered on an incestuous one, which has rubbed viewers the wrong way and drawn criticism from the real-life subjects of the series. With the show gaining popularity on the streamer, creator Murphy has finally commented on the backlash and appears to be sticking by the creative choice.

During a chat with Entertainment Tonight, Murphy addressed the undertones of incest between the brothers that is depicted in the miniseries, and he believes that the project is presenting different “points of view” and “theories” from various people that were involved with the highly salacious case.

“If you watch the show, what the show is doing is presenting the points of view and theories from so many people who were involved in the case. Dominick Dunne wrote several articles talking about that theory. We are presenting his point of view. And we had an obligation to show all of that and we did.”

Viewers Felt the Implications of Incest Were in Poor Taste

The questionable moments that have been constantly referenced in the many criticisms involve the brothers getting caught showering together, dancing suggestively with each other at parties and a scene where they share a brief kiss. Erik Menéndez recently spoke out against the miniseries and pointed to what he believed were lies depicted during the Netflix true-crime saga by saying:

Erik also spoke out against Murphy by saying, “He cannot be this naive and inaccurate about the facts of our lives so as to do this without bad intent.” Responding to Erik’s assertions, Murphy pointed to an “obligation” to tell all sides of the story by saying:

“There were four people involved in that, two of them are dead, and two of them are alive with their point of view. But what about the parents? We had an obligation as storytellers to also try and put in their perspective based on our research, which we did.” The co-creator also went on to say that much of the story is centered around the brothers’ claims of abuse.

“I think that it’s interesting that he’s issued a statement without having seen the show. It’s really, really hard, if it’s your life, to see your life up on screen. The thing that I find interesting that he doesn’t mention in his quote, is if you watch the show, I would say 60-65 percent of our show in the scripts and in the film form center around the abuse and what they claim happened to them. And we do it very carefully, and we give them their day in court and they talk openly about it.”

Perhaps the brothers will get their side of their story out there soon enough thanks to a documentary, oddly enough also courtesy of Netflix, that is set to debut on the streamer on Oct. 7. Simply titled, The Menendez Brothers, the documentary will feature the brothers speaking out via phone interviews that were recorded from prison phones at the Donovan Correctional Facility where the brothers have been housed since their conviction in 1996.